1991 WLAF Season

Originally written by Frank Woods

It has been noted on this forum that while there are threads on the various other alternative football leagues, none have been created for the WLAF, or later to be known as NFL Europe. Well, now there is one, starting with the 1991 season.

The WLAF, funded by 28 of the 30 NFL teams and designed to be the official developmental league for the NFL, in its first season played a 10-week regular season with no bye weeks and had a four team playoff with the three division champions and the top 2nd place finisher taking part. The inaugural season featured the following 10 teams, with 6 United States teams, 3 Europe based teams, and 1 team from Canada comprising the league at formation:

London Monarchs

Barcelona Dragons

Frankfurt Galaxy

New York/New Jersey Knights

Orlando Thunder

Montreal Machine

Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks

Birmingham Fire

San Antonio Riders

Sacramento Surge

As for television coverage, ABC and USA each signed on to be broadcasters of the new league. ABC would televise 10 regular season games, primarily on Sunday afternoons, along with one semifinal game and the inaugural World Bowl, while USA would televise games primarily on Saturday and Monday nights. These listings are incomplete in terms of the announcers and telecast info, and I greatly appreciated any help with filling in the gaps and correcting errors.

WEEK 1, 1991:

Sat 3/23, Skyhawks-Surge, 8:00, USA (regional). Bill Macatee, Warren Moon

Sat 3/23, Machine-Fire, 8:00, USA (regional). Tim Brant, Dan Marino, Mick Luckhurst

Sun 3/24, Knights-Dragons, 1:00, ABC. Brent Musburger, Dick Vermeil, Mark Jones

Mon 3/25, Riders-Thunder, 8:00, USA. Brad Nessler, Boomer Esiason, Michael Barkann

WEEK 2, 1991:

Sat 3/30, Skyhawks-Thunder, 8:00, USA (regional). Tim Brant, Dan Marino, Mick Luckhurst

Sat 3/30, Surge-Fire, 8:00, USA (regional). Bill Macatee, Dan Jiggetts

Sun 3/31, Knights-Monarchs, 1:00, ABC. Brent Musburger, Dick Vermeil

Mon 4/1, Galaxy-Riders, 8:00, USA. Brad Nessler, Boomer Esiason, Michael Barkann

WEEK 3, 1991:

Sat 4/6, Thunder-Monarchs, 2:00, USA. Bill Macatee, Dave Jennings

Sat 4/6, Galaxy-Knights, 8:00, USA (regional). Dan Jiggetts, Warren Moon

Sat 4/6, Dragons-Skyhawks, 8:00, USA (regional). Tim Brant, Dan Marino, Mick Luckhurst

Sun 4/7, Surge-Riders, 1:00, ABC. Brent Musburger, Dick Vermeil, Mark Jones

Mon 4/8, Fire-Machine, 8:00, USA. Brad Nessler, Boomer Esiason, Michael Barkann

WEEK 4, 1991:

Sat 4/13, Galaxy-Surge, 8:00, USA (regional). Bill Macatee, Dan Jiggetts

Sat 4/13, Knights-Machine, 8:00, USA (regional). Tim Brant, Dan Marino

Sun 4/14, Thunder-Dragons, 1:00, ABC. Brent Musburger, Dick Vermeil, Mark Jones

Mon 4/15, Riders-Skyhawks, 8:00, USA (regional). Ted Robinson, Dave Jennings

Mon 4/15, Monarchs-Fire, 8:00, USA (regional). Brad Nessler, Boomer Esiason, Michael Barkann

WEEK 5, 1991:

Sat 4/20, Skyhawks-Galaxy, 2:00, USA. Ted Robinson, Dave Jennings

Sat 4/20, Dragons-Riders, 8:00, USA. Tim Brant, Dan Marino, Mick Luckhurst

Sun 4/21, Fire-Thunder, 1:00, ABC. Brent Musburger, Dick Vermeil

Mon 4/22, Surge-Knights, 8:00, USA. Brad Nessler, Boomer Esiason, Michael Barkann

WEEK 6, 1991:

Sat 4/27, Thunder-Knights, 8:00, USA (regional). Tim Brant, Dan Marino, Mick Luckhurst

Sat 4/27, Dragons-Surge, 8:00, USA (regional). Bill Macatee, Dan Jiggetts

Sun 4/28, Skyhawks-Monarchs, 1:00, ABC. Brent Musburger, Dick Vermeil

Mon 4/29, Riders-Fire, 8:00, USA. Brad Nessler, Boomer Esiason, Michael Barkann

WEEK 7, 1991:

Sat 5/4, Fire-Dragons, 2:00, USA. Ted Robinson, Dave Jennings, Nick Halling

Sat 5/4, Galaxy-Thunder, 8:00, USA (regional). Tim Brant, Dan Marino, Mick Luckhurst

Sat 5/5, Machine-Surge, 8:00, USA (regional). Bill Macatee, Warren Moon

Sun 5/5, Knights-Skyhawks, 1:00, ABC. Brent Musburger, Dick Vermeil, Mark Jones

Mon 5/6, Monarchs-Riders, 8:00, USA. Brad Nessler, Boomer Esiason

WEEK 8, 1991:

Sat 5/11, Riders-Dragons, 2:00, USA. Ted Robinson, Dave Jennings

Sat 5/11, Surge-Thunder, 8:00, USA (regional). Bill Macatee, Warren Moon

Sat 5/11, Monarchs-Knights, 8:00, USA (regional). Brad Nessler, Boomer Esiason, Mick Luckhurst

Sun 5/12, Fire-Galaxy, 1:00, ABC. Brent Musburger, Dick Vermeil

Mon 5/13, Skyhawks-Machine, 8:00, USA. Tim Brant, Dan Marino, Michael Barkann

WEEK 9, 1991:

Sat 5/18, Monarchs-Surge, 8:00, USA. Tim Brant, Dan Marino, Mick Luckhurst

Sun 5/19, Machine-Riders, 12:30, ABC. Brent Musburger, Dick Vermeil, Mark Jones

Mon 5/20, Knights-Fire, 8:00, USA (regional). Brad Nessler, Boomer Esiason, Michael Barkann

Mon 5/20, Thunder-Skyhawks, 8:00, USA (regional). ??, ??

WEEK 10, 1991:

Sat 5/25, Fire-Skyhawks, 3:00, ABC. Brent Musburger, Dick Vermeil

Sat 5/25, Riders-Knights, 8:00, USA. Tim Brant, Dan Marino, Mick Luckhurst

Mon 5/27, Thunder-Machine, 8:00, USA. Brad Nessler, Boomer Esiason, Michael Barkann

SEMIFINALS

Sat 6/1, Dragons-Fire, 8:00, USA. Brad Nessler, Boomer Esiason, Michael Barkann

Sun 6/2, Monarchs-Knights, 12:30, ABC. Brent Musburger, Dick Vermeil, Mark Jones


WORLD BOWL '91

Sun 6/9, Dragons-Monarchs, 12:00, ABC. Brent Musburger, Dick Vermeil, Mark Jones, Jack Arute

- Dan Marino, Warren Moon and Boomer Esiason (who were still playing in the NFL at the time) were each analysts on the USA coverage